


home is whenever I'm with you

by isloremipsumafterall



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-09-02 05:30:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20270743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/isloremipsumafterall/pseuds/isloremipsumafterall
Summary: After Rannoch there's talks about the future and what might come of it.





	home is whenever I'm with you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [girlonthelasttrain](https://archiveofourown.org/users/girlonthelasttrain/gifts).

Despite that Tali had complained about the quiet over the years she was glad that engineering was so silent after Gabby and Ken had finished their shift and left for the night. She’d had EDI turn off sensors too with the promise that EDI could spy again later, for now though she just needed a moment.

Her filter was raspy as she breathed, it need a replacement after spending her time on Rannoch. The dust had built up and leaving it in the dirt when she’d taken off her mask just to breathe in the fresh air hadn’t helped. She tapped her fingers idly on her omnitool, swiping through the files on it until she found what she wanted.

The image grew from it, expanding to fill the hallway in front of her and Tali felt lightheaded as she gazed at it.

“Is that…floorplans?” Shepard’s voice came to her right, making Tali jump a little.

“Shepard!” She yelped and scrambled to shut off her omnitool but stopped when she saw the bemused grin on Shepard’s face. “Taking sneaking lessons from Kasumi?” It was hard to get the right amount of humour and annoyance across while wearing her mask but Tali liked to think she managed it all the same.

“Oh she’s shown me some things here and there.” Shepard said lightly, shrugging and then gestured back to the image on Tali’s omnitool. “What’s this?”

Tali look back down at it and swallowed hard, “It was a gift.” She explained. “From Legion.” She let the image flicker out. “Do you remember when you went in the server and saw the memories from the Morning War?”

“Considering that was only a week ago I hope I remember it.” Shepard fell quiet after that and it was likely because of the reminder of Legion. It had only been yesterday that they’d lost him.

“He…” She began somewhat reluctantly, not wanting to force Shepard into the conversation if she wasn’t ready for it yet but Shepard nodded solemnly and she continued. “I asked him if he had any files in there for Quarian houses.” It sounded silly to say it out loud. “I wanted to know if there was an architecture that was popular at the time You know, if it was at all similar to Haestrom or completely different or…”

“You wanted to recover a part of your past that you never got a chance to learn.” Shepard finished for her and she’d taken a step closer so her arm was pressing against Tali. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Tali took a deep breath, “We can get it all back now.” The weight in her chest that had existed since she was a child, the one that beat alongside her heart and told her to find her homeworld, was light and threatened to overwhelm her. “The geth…” She laughed at the idea of it suddenly, “They can help us. But this was Legion’s last gift specifically for me.”

“One hell of a new world you’re going to have.”

The denial was on the tip of her tongue, that Rannoch wasn’t new and it had all this history that belonged to them but she stopped. Shepard wasn’t completely wrong, it was new to her.

“It is.” She admitted. “But I’ll have the beachfront property to take it all in.” She tapped her omnitool again, pulling up the floorplans.

An arm slid around her waist as Shepard stepped up behind her, resting her chin on Tali’s shoulder. “I think the bedroom should be bigger.”

“Oh,” Tali teased, zooming in on it. “It’s not bad for just one.”

“Just one?”

“Well. Maybe two. It’ll be cozy.”

“I see how it is, I get you a homeworld and you relegate me to a corner of your bedroom.” Shepard sighed, overly dramatic and it made Tali snicker. “I thought you loved me.”

Tali reached down with her free hand to grasp at Shepard’s, hating that she had to wear the suit and couldn’t feel her skin against Shepard’s. “More than Bellicus loves Shalei.”

Shepard was quiet from a moment and then, “That’s a Fleet and Flotilla reference isn’t it?”

“One day I will get you to watch that.” Tali warned, elbowing Shepard lightly as she let go of her hand and went to skim the floorplans again.

Shepard hummed in her agreement and leaned in closer, pressing her cheek against Tali’s neck. “So tell me more about this home you’re building us.”

“Us?” Tali’s breath caught on the word. It was one thing to joke about a bedroom that Shepard might stay in here and there, it was another to say it was for them entirely. “You’d move to Rannoch?” She turned in Shepard’s embrace, her omnitool shutting off as she did, and rested her hands on Shepard’s shoulder.

“I mean,” Shepard seemed oddly nervous just then, something Tali wasn’t used to seeing with her. “If you’d want me to. I’ve got to retire somewhere, I’d like it to be wherever you are.”

For one moment Tali felt more weightless than she ever had all night, her heart hammered loud enough that she could hear the blood pounding in her ears and her suit popped up a helpful notice about it that she ignored.

“You said whatever happens you wanted to be with me,” Shepard said softly, her eyes not leaving Tali, “I feel the same.”

It occurred to Tali then that she’d gotten it wrong. Rannoch was a place she would forever be tied to and it could have a house for her there but it wasn’t her home. She felt tears prickling at the corner of her eyes and cursed that she couldn’t easily brush them aside.

The best she could do was rest her helmet against Shepard’s forehead and shut her eyes to just live in that moment. “I love you.” She said and there were more words she needed to get out but that had to be said first.

“I love you too, Tali. Always.” Shepard pulled Tali’s hands away from her shoulders to grip them lightly between her own. They let the moment settle between them, both gathering themselves back from the emotional ride they’d been on. “Plus we can always get a place on Earth to vacation to. And Anderson just gave me his apartment on the Citdael, said he wouldn’t need it. I might throw a party there when this is all over, or maybe before. We could use a break.”

“Just a rest before we kick the Reapers out of our galaxy.” Tali agreed, she pulled back a little but didn’t let go of Shepard’s hands. “You can get me that for our anniversary.”

“I just got you a homeworld!” Shepard mock griped. “You’re getting impossible to shop for.”

“So long as I’m getting you I don’t care.” Tali shrugged. “But a gift here and there couldn’t hurt.” She bumped Shepard’s shoulder with her own. “I’m helping you get Earth back. Though there isn’t a big enough bow. Joker said humans like to wrap things.”

“Please don’t take gift ideas from Joker.”

“So I shoulder return the new ship models I picked up at the Citadel then?”

“Well,” Shepard laughed a little, “Let’s not be too hasty.”

Tali chuckled but then made a face at the raspiness of her filter again, she’d forgotten about it during their conversation.

“Sounds like that needs a cleaning.” Shepard said casually, far too casually and Tali raised an eyebrow she couldn’t see at Shepard. “I think there’s one place on board that’s safe to take your suit off in.”

Tali grinned, “Now there’s an idea.” She drawled, linking her arm through Shepard’s and turning them towards the elevator.

Shepard winked at her, “I’m full of great ideas.”

Tali’s laughter echoed in the hallway, filling the quiet of engineering as they left it behind.

**Author's Note:**

> and then shepard lived and they retired happily to rannoch and adopted quarian kids who lost their parents in the war and shepard bought each of them their own space hamster while tali shows fleet and flotilla at every family movie night


End file.
